No car EMI for 6 months if you lose job: A carmaker’s olive branch amid Covid-19

Desperate time calls for desperate measures. Coronavirus pandemic has forced some of the carmakers think out of the box to not only keep the sales going but also help customers during these trying times.

Hyundai Motor and its luxury brand Genesis have come up with an indigenous idea that sounds like music for people looking for new cars, or have just bought one and are wondering how to pay off the EMIs in the next few months.

The brand has come out with a scheme called the Hyundai Assurance, which promises to take care of all that as the world grapples with coronavirus pandemic.

According to the scheme, if you buy a Hyundai or a Genesis car any time till the end of April this year you will be eligible for a deferred first payment that gives you breathing space for up to three months. You can also expect another relief from paying a penny for 6 months more in case you lose your job after you make a purchase or lease a car through Hyundai Capital.

The scheme launched by Genesis, called Genesis Cares Job Loss Protection, varies a bit from what Hyundai offers. The Genesis scheme also offers a 6-month relief for its customers who buy a car by April 30 and also lose job any time later this year. The only condition, the car bought or leased should be through Genesis Finance. The ‘no-EMI-for-3-month’ scheme is only applicable for Genesis G70 customers.

Hyundai is broadly offering these schemes across most of its models currently available in the US market like Accent, Venue, Elantra Tucson and Santa Fe.

Jose Munoz, the president and CEO of Hyundai Motor North America, said in a statement, "Bringing back the job loss protection program in this unprecedented time will allow our customers to have one less thing to worry about if something unexpected happens to their employment status."

Hyundai is not the first to come up with such an offer for its customers. Earlier this month, General Motors came up with a unique plan to tackle is dwindling sales in the United States. The company launched a broad plan to combat the coronavirus impact by offering financing of new cars.

As part of the plan, General Motors is offering zero percent interest loans, deferred payments of upto 120 days on new cars. GM is going to implement this to help brands like Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac to improve its sales figures.